Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, is facing a backlash from Conservative MPs, figures in Downing Street and the Equalities Office over plans to allow pupils to choose their own pronouns if their parents give consent.
The Government has promised to publish transgender guidance for consultation before the end of term as it comes under pressure from school leaders who say they have been left to navigate the issue on their own amid a dramatic increase in recent years in the number of pupils who say they are trans.
It emerged this week that at some secondary schools in England, teachers have agreed to affirm children’s demands to be recognised as cats, horses and dinosaurs.
An NHS-commissioned report by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass warned last year that allowing children to “socially transition” to their preferred gender was “not a neutral act” and could have “significant” impact on their “psychological functioning”.
A Whitehall source said: “Department for Education officials have attended too many Stonewall meetings and think social transition is acceptable. It isn’t. These are children dealing with serious changes and doctors should be involved. The guidance will reflect that.” Another source said it would be a “political disaster” if the guidance was not strengthened.
It is understood that the guidance will say that schools must consider the needs of other children in the school and must be convinced it is in the child’s best interest before affirming a new gender identity. It will also say that nobody should be compelled to use a pupil’s preferred pronouns if they don’t want to.
DfE is expected to meet with Downing Street officials next week to review the planned guidance.
Options for strengthening it that are expected to be discussed include adding a “watchful waiting period” for any child who wants to socially transition with parental consent. Watchful waiting is an approach to a medical problem whereby a period of time is allowed to pass before any intervention is made.
It comes amid growing pressure from Red Wall Tory MPs for a ban on social transitioning in schools. Nick Fletcher, Conservative MP for Don Valley, said: “There needs to be a complete ban on it [social transitioning] in schools.
“Anything else will be extremely difficult to enforce, very difficult for headteachers to comply with. A complete ban makes it simple, easier for everyone to understand, and I think that’s what most teachers and heads would want”.
He said he was putting pressure on the Education Secretary and the issue needed to go to the Prime Minister “because it is getting out of hand. I’m speaking with Government. I spoke with Government this week and I will be speaking with them again”.
Miriam Cates, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, said: “I do think we should have a complete ban on it. It’s the only workable option for schools”.
She said that allowing children to socially transition with parental consent “ignores the reality that different schools face on the ground. How are they supposed to decide which children to transition? All they will do is continue to transition every child who asks for it, perhaps with parental consent. But it’s not going to make a difference on the ground”.
She added: “If as a society we agree that social transitioning is not a recommended course of action with a known positive outcome, then parents don’t have a right to demand it”.
She compared it to a parent demanding antibiotics for their child from a GP, when a doctor thinks it would be unnecessary or harmful.
Many will see this guidance as a betrayal after the Government promised to take on the gender madness that is sweeping our Nation. Unless the Government acts to change this guidance, they should be punished by the actual conservative members within the party and the voting public who have had enough of this gender agenda being pushed upon people.
If a child announces that they want to transition their gender or as in recent cases wants to identify as a cat or dinosaur the first thing a school should do is consider the safeguarding issues around this and get mental health professionals involved.
Teachers who push the idea on children that there are more than two genders and that it is possible to identify as an animal or as an inanimate object or reprimand the pupils for questioning this, should be sanctioned and their fitness to teach investigated.
Though it is not desirable for the state to become overly entangled in peoples private and family lives, Ms Cates has a point when she says that parents are not always the best people to know what is best for their child. We need to consider how sadly some parents have jumped onboard the pro-trans bandwagon and will be happy to sacrifice their child to this cult.
Other parents of course just want to see their children happy and will take the misguided step of supporting their transition, which in many cases years down the line has led to regret and unhappiness from the child when they reach adulthood and realise their terrible mistake in transitioning.
The fight must carry on until a full ban is enacted and this gender madness is seen as what it actually is: a mental health issue that needs to be urgently addressed.
